Sean McVay Explains Why He Didn’t Play Todd Gurley Much During The Super Bowl

ATLANTA, GA - FEBRUARY 03: Head Coach Sean McVay of the Los Angeles Rams reacts in the first half during Super Bowl LIII against the New England Patriots at Mercedes-Benz Stadium on February 3, 2019 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)

The Los Angeles Rams were putrid on offense on Sunday, and in the aftermath, many are questioning head coach Sean McVay’s game plan heading into the contest. Specifically, many are wondering why star running back Todd Gurley wasn’t a bigger part of the attack.

Gurley, who has been a stud since he entered the league three years ago, rushed the ball 10 times for 35 yards – adding one catch that lost yardage. The Rams never established any kind of running game as a result.

McVay was asked about Gurley after the game. He made sure to note that Gurley was not injured going into the contest.

Here’s the quote. McVay was asked if Gurley was healthy:

“Yeah, you know (Mike) he is. I never enabled us to get into a rhythm offensively. We didn’t have any third down conversions really the whole first half. They did a good job. It seemed like every time we got a little bit of a positive play then we’d end up having a penalty or move ourselves back.

I think a lot of it was the result of some of the things they did but then also the play selection. I was not pleased at all with my feel for the flow of the game and kind of making some adjustments as the game unfolded and giving ourselves a chance to have some success and put some points on the board.

Credit to them. They did a good job. I certainly didn’t do good enough for us. But Todd is healthy and we just didn’t really get a chance to get anybody going today offensively and that starts with me.”

Gurley only rushed four times against the New Orleans Saints – so the final two weeks of the year, he was largely ineffective. It’s one of the weirder situations we’ve seen when it comes to star players not seeing the field during big games.

The Patriots, with the win, are now 6-3 during Super Bowl contests during the Brady/Belichick era.